Young at heart
Stephen rahmanHughes is a cat in a different hat as he directs his first production, Seussical in malaysia.
STEPHEN Rahman-Hughes still remembers how he started in theatre – by walking the streets of London. In the name of research, of course.
Having performed in a funk band for a while, he had just landed his first stage role in Homeless the musical, and had to hit the streets to talk to the homeless about their experiences.
“We built a storyline from that and I ended up writing a couple of songs for the musical,” he recalls.
There was no looking back for him after that.
Fast forward a little, and now Rahman-Hughes is directing his first production in Malaysia.
“This is a perfect opportunity for me to have some fun and direct my first production here. Great story, great music and a bunch of wonderfully talented kids,” he says of Enfiniti Academy’s take on Seussical Jr with a cast of over 30 young performers, ranging from ages eight to 18.
“Tiara (Jacquelina, founder of the academy and executive producer of the musical) and Jo (Joanna Bessey, the academy’s course director and the musical’s associate producer) have put together a strong team on the creative side. I’m lucky to have the support of exceptional industry pros to give me their expertise to elevate my ideas.”
Believe it when he says he has ideas. This man has done it all, it seems – from dancing to acting, from singing to choreographing.
From Homeless, Rahman-Hughes went on to train at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance and founded Red Rain Dance Theatre. The multi-talented performer was in a British tour of West Side Story, played the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bombay Dreams, and acted in several TV shows, including musical TV series
He is also the founding member of the vocal group Teatro.
Closer to home, the BritishMalaysian played Hang Tuah in the award-winning Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical, where he had to learn Malay from scratch – and a few years later played Merong in local epic action film Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa.
Choreography? Cuci The Musical in 2009. Singing? Yes, a solo concert at Dewan Filharmonik in 2010, not to forget a self-titled album in Malay in late 2011.
Rahman-Hughes flew in from London, where he is based, specifically for Seussical Jr. On the side, he has also met with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in preparation for a concert – In The Mood For Love – in February.
No stranger to working with children, he says that he has always loved it. It’s apparent that he feels the same this time as well – just last week, he tweeted that “working with these kids is such a blast.”
“The kids are so affectionate and excited by the work. They are just great and working with them is a fantastic experience. What an amazing bunch,” adds the Seussical Jr director and choreographer.
He comments on their enthusiasm and energy, confiding that it sometimes “gets a little nuts with all that boundless energy, but they are learning to focus it into the work.”
“They surprise me every day. I try to use what they give me as much as possible so that they feel they have the permission to explore and express. It is important that they feel confident so they can improve quickly since we have limited time to put it all together,” he says.
It sure sounds like RahmanHughes is taking it all in his stride, especially when he goes on to talk about how important it is to run with a young person’s love of play.
“A lot of the creative process has to be fun and shaped like a game. Getting them to stay switched on is the key, so you have to keep them interested in what they are doing. You can’t set tasks that are too advanced, but if it’s too easy, they can get easily bored,” he explains.
“Children need a little more guidance and sometimes you’ll have to take on the role of a teacher to those with little or no experience.”
To him, the reward is simply “seeing the kids’ faces light up and watching them develop.”
“I love it when their personalities come out. They are such a funny bunch. We laugh an awful lot together and there is so much talent and humour in our cast,” he shares.
Seussical Jr the musical follows the tale of a few characters from several Dr Seuss books – from Horton the elephant who hears voices on a speck of dust to Gertrude McFuzz who has only one feather on her tail, and a critical Sour Kangaroo, as well as mischievous monkeys, just to name a few.
“The story travels very quickly. The Cat In The Hat creates mayhem by encouraging a young boy, who later becomes Jojo, son of Mr and Mrs Mayor of Whoville, to use his imagination or ‘Thinks’ to create our story,” says Rahman-Hughes, whose childhood – due to his growing up in Britain – was more Roald Dahl than Dr Seuss.
Nevertheless, he knew of the books and recalls, with some trepidation, seeing images of The Grinch.
“I remember seeing images of The Grinch as a kid – but I thought he looked pretty freaky!” he says.
Still, when Seussical Jr associate producer Bessey called him and asked if this would be something that he would like to do, he got to reading and watching Horton Hears A Who.
“I got really interested in it – they have such wonderful messages inside the strange and quirky stories. The characters are adorable and the story lines are moving,” he says.
And when the curtains open on Thursday to the catchy “Oh, the Thinks you can think! Oh, the Thinks you can think, if you’re willing to try ... Think and wonder and dream – Far and wide as you dare!” RahmanHughes – and all the other people behind Seussical Jr, both the young and young at heart – will have done just that.
Seussical Jr will be staged at PJ Live Arts Theatre, Jaya One (Ground Floor, Block K, 72A, Jalan Universiti, PJ) from Dec 12 to 15 at 8.30pm, with additional shows at 3.30pm on Dec 14 and 15 only. Tickets, priced at RM63, can be purchased at www. tix.my or 03-7960 0439/017-228 9849. For more information, visit fb.com/EnactSeussicalJr.